No doubt the Sri Lanka Egg and Poultry industry is in deep crisis that has added another mind boggling issue to the government already saddled with many burning problems completing it to import eggs from India as the last resort.
The Finance Ministry said the Special Commodity Levy has been reduced from Rs. 50 to Rs. 1. The levy has been reduced for a period of three months from 21 February.
People fear that this may be another sugar scam type deal of throwing dust in the eyes of the people under guise of bringing down prices and tackling shortage in the market.
Egg prices are skyrocketing which cannot be controlled with the shortages of in the essential commodities in the market.
A shipment of 2 million eggs imported from India by the Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation will arrive in the island with in the next few weeks a sthe stock eggs has been shipped on Thursday 23 from India.
The General Manager of the Sri Lanka Sate Trading Corporation Chimala Iddamalgoda said that the selling price of imported egg will be in the region of Rs 40 and the whole stock will be soald to local bakeries badly affected by the shortage.
Egg producers in the island had rejected the government’s request to reduce egg prices. The government’s decision to impose a ceiling resulted in many poultry producers not supplying eggs to the markets until the prices increased.
The island has been facing a shortage of poultry eggs which resulted in a price hike. Earlier in January egg prices had risen to over 70 Lankan rupees per egg.
Egg producers in the island had rejected the government’s request to reduce egg prices. The government’s decision to impose a ceiling resulted in many poultry producers not supplying eggs to the markets until the prices increased.
Ahead of the two million eggs cargo from India this weekend, the Government has slashed the Special Commodity Levy on imported eggs.
The Finance Ministry said the Special Commodity Levy has been reduced from Rs. 50 to Rs. 1. The levy has been reduced for a period of three months from 21 February.
This has raised eyebrows of many as there were allegations of the involvement of Trade Minister’s close relative behind the deal of indian egg imports and the tax reduction Rs 49 per egg will deprive of the tax revenue of Rs980 million in single shipment for the state coffers.
This was imlar to the sugar scam which deprived the government of tax revenue of a whopping Rs. 16.763 Billion by the reduction of the special commodity levy imposed on imported sugar from Rs. 50/- per kilogram to Rs. 0.25/- per kilogram some times back.
The Department of Animal Production and Health however refused to grant permission to import eggs from India citing concerns over prevalent Avian influenza or bird flu cases.
Sri Lanka’s Trade Minister Nalin Fernando said that eggs will be sold for a price between Rs. 40/- to Rs. 42/-.
He said that 20% of the domestic requirement will be imported, and the ministry is in possession of the necessary funds for the imports.
The Chairman of the All Ceylon Egg Producers Association said that importing eggs would put the local industry at risk.
